1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inductor, and more particularly to a low profile inductor and a method of making the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, an inductor is one of the passive components used in the electrical devices. However, during seeking compact and light electrical devices, consideration of performance is unsatisfied. For example, although the volume of the inductor is reduced, the undesired DC resistance is inevitably increased.
Take a conventional inductor 10 shown in FIG. 1 as an example. The conventional inductor 10 includes a core 20 and a coil 30. Among these, the coil 30 is formed of the copper line wound around the outer surface of the core 20. Therefore, the total thickness of the conventional inductor 10 is the thickness of the core 20 plus two diameters of the copper line. That is, the total thickness of the conventional inductor 10 is larger than that of the core 20 obviously.
Stilling referring to FIG. 1, since the cross section of the copper line is round and conventional, the coil formed by winding occupies much of the volume of the inductor. Furthermore, the spaces formed between each of the turns of the coil increase the meaningless volume. Even though reducing the cross section area of the copper line, i.e. by reducing the diameter, the designer suffers the problem that the undesired DC resistance increases because the resistance is in inverse proportion to the cross section area. That is one of the reasons why the prior art fails to reduce the volume of the inductor. Therefore, there is a need in the art for reducing the volume of the inductor without increasing the DC resistant.
Consideration of the prior problems, the present invention provides a novel method for forming a low profile inductor by reducing volume and thickness.
The present invention provides a low profile inductor and a method of making the same. First, a core seat including a cavity and two openings is provided. Then, a flat coil is formed in the cavity of the core seat. The flat coil includes a first terminal and a second terminal extending outward or revealed by the openings so as to serving as the pins of the inductor. The extending directions of the first terminal and the second terminal are not parallel. A core cover is formed on the flat coil and the core seat for serving as a core of the inductor.